Avensis Problems

[Cannonc]

Hi all, I’ve just bought a ’98 Avensis 1.8 GS. I’ve noticed two problems that I would like help with:

1: The car develops a misfire at low revs like when you go around a slow corner and try to pull away in fourth gear at around 1500 – 2000 rpm. The car pulls fine on long hills and there is no sign of a miss when revving it through the gears. (The previous owner changed the HT leads recently) Do the HT leads from a 1.6 4A-FE fit the 1.8-7A FE so I can swap them over and eliminate them as a problem.

2: When locking or opening the car with the remote, the rear and front passenger side doors don’t always work. Sometimes the front might work; sometimes the back might and sometimes both will work.

Any ideas on the above would be greatly appreciated.

[cmia]

I would check HT leads,

Distro and spark plugs for miss firing.

As for the central locking, does it open and lock ok when the control button inside the car? Could be bad locks/motors or control unit.

[Cannonc]

Thanks for those suggestions cmia.

I changed the leads last night from my 1.6 avensis and initially tought the problem was cured however I noticed it again this morning on my way to work although not as bad as it had been. When I removed the first lead (The long one) I noticed the metal connector at the distributer end of the lead had completely burned away. This strangly enough doesn't appear to be the cause of the problem.

Any other suggestions??

[cmia]

When you say it missfire, can you hear it or feel it ? or does it bog down?

I still think your problem lies with the HT/Spark plugs and Distro.

Have you checked the sparkplugs?

Take themout and look at the ends, what colour are they ? black? white ?

Look inside the Disctro, and looked at the Distro Arm,

Maybe the Distro cover will need to be replaced or the Arm. Try cleaning them first with a little bit of sand paper.

But i think your spark plugs will need changing,

when was the car serviced?

[Cannonc]

See responses below

When you say it missfire, can you hear it or feel it ? or does it bog down?

You feel a slight hesitation when accelerating at low revs.

I still think your problem lies with the HT/Spark plugs and Distro.

Have you checked the sparkplugs?

I checked the sparkplugs, they looked fine, nice and white.

Take themout and look at the ends, what colour are they ? black? white ?

Look inside the Disctro, and looked at the Distro Arm,

Maybe the Distro cover will need to be replaced or the Arm. Try cleaning them first with a little bit of sand paper.

I think the distro in these is different to the old cover and arm job. The leads gi into two seperate units.

But i think your spark plugs will need changing,

when was the car serviced?

Don't know when it was last serviced but plugs have about 25k on them.

[Paul C]

I think you'll find that it hasn't got a distributor as you say the leads go into 2 seperate units which will be double ended coils.

You say you've just brought the car was it from a garage? if it was take it back and get them to sort it.

When was the fuel filter last changed?

[taximark]

Did you get it sorted then mate? Was it the H.T leads?

[Cannonc]

Changing the HT leads helped a lot however I changed the spark plugs aswell and that seems to have solved it.

Thanks for all your help.

[Avensis luna 03]

Changing the HT leads helped a lot however I changed the spark plugs aswell and that seems to have solved it.

Thanks for all your help.

Hope this solves your problem permanently.

I have the same problem on a 99. Changed spark plugs and it seemed ok for a few days but the problem came back.

I didn't change the HT leads as they looked perfect in all respects but that'll have to be the next step I feel.

Problem is that I figure it could be any one of a series of things and where do you start (and stop) with the replacement of parts. I suppose I had hoped that some electrical component might send a fault code.

Anyway, let us know if it recurs.

[taximark]

Depending on how you look at it the local motor spares are very tempting to get parts from such as H.T leads to save on costs but on experience these cheap-tac parts do not last long what so ever trust me.

Mine lasted 12 months.

[snoopdowg]

My neighbour had the same problem and when he bought new HT leads the problem continued until he bought genuine toyota leads, which solve the problem.